For Immediate Release
Contact:
Gloria Gottschalk, New School University
(212) 229-5667, ext. 239
(New York, NY – February 28, 2001) New School University’s Jazz and Contemporary Music Program will honor saxophone greats James Moody, Jackie McLean, and Phil Woods in a gala evening on Monday, April 2 at 6:30 PM at Manhattan’s landmark Puck Building. Andrew Whist, who instituted the Philip Morris Jazz Grant and Philip Morris International Jazz Concerts, and whose lifelong dedication to jazz has made a lasting impression on jazz musicians and listeners alike, will also be receiving an award.
The Beacons in Jazz awards gala raises scholarship money for students in the New School Jazz Program. The evening will begin with a cocktail reception at 6:30 PM, followed by dinner at 7:30 PM, performances and presentation of the awards. Single tickets are available at $250. For further information, call (212) 229-5896, ext. 309.
Since 1986, New School University’s Jazz Program has recognized living jazz musicians whose extraordinary talent has significantly contributed to the evolution of jazz with the Beacons in Jazz award. Past recipients have included: Cab Calloway, Milt Hinton, Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, Joe Williams, Benny Carter, Max Roach, Chico Hamilton, and George and Joyce Wein.
This year’s Beacons in Jazz award recipient, Phil Woods, has performed with Benny Carter, Clark Terry, Bill Evans, Michel Legrand, Thelonious Monk, and Dizzy Gillespie, to name a few. He began studying the saxophone at age 12 with Harvey LaRose in his hometown of Springfield, Massachusetts. After graduating from high school at 16, he came to New York City, spending a summer at Manhattan School of Music and four years at The Juilliard School. His first influences were Benny Carter, Johnny Hodges, and Charlie Parker. In the 1950s and 60s, he performed with his own working bands. Quincy Jones hired him to play lead alto in Dizzy Gillespie’s big band which toured the Middle East for the State Department.
While living abroad, in 1968, Woods founded the European Rhythm Machine touring worldwide with the group until 1973. Woods returned to the United States, and after a spending a short time in Los Angeles, moved back to New York and formed The Phil Woods Quartet (now, Quintet). Two of the original members of that group, Steve Gilmore and Bill Goodwin, are still with him after more than 20 years.
Beacons recipient James Moody was born in Savannah, George and raised in Newark, New Jersey. He began playing the saxophone, a gift from his uncle, at age 16. He decided on the tenor saxophone after hearing Buddy Tate and Don Byas perform with the Count Basie Band at the Adams Theater in Newark, New Jersey. In 1946, following service in the U.S. Air Force, he joined the bebop big band of Dizzy Gillespie, beginning an association that gave Moody worldwide exposure. In 1948, he made his recording debut as a leader on "James Moody and His Bop Men" (Blue Note). In 1949, Moody moved to Europe, where he recorded "Moody’s Mood for Love" (which has recently been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame). He returned to the States in 1952, with a successful hit. Moody hired vocalist Eddie Jefferson and worked with Dinah Washington and Brook Benton. In 1963, he rejoined Gillespie and performed on and off in the trumpeter’s quintet for the remainder of the decade. Moody moved to Las Vegas and performed with the Las Vegas Hilton Orchestra from 1973-1980. Moody moved to the East Coast and began performing jazz regularly in the 1980s. In 1985, he received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance for his playing on Manhattan Transfer’s "Vocalese" album. His 1986 "Something Special" (RCA/NOVUS) ended a decade-long major label recording hiatus. His follow-up recording, "Moving Forward," included such standards as "Autumn Leaves" and "Giant Steps." Moody’s 70th birthday party on March 26, 1995 was a historic night of jazz and featured Bill Cosby as the emcee and special guest stars. The evening was recorded as "Moody’s Party – James Moody’s 70th Birthday Celebration, Live at the Blue Note" (Telarc). Moody’s latest recording for Warner Brothers is "Moody Plays Mancini" and features him on all of his horns, as well as on flute.
Beacons recipient Jackie McLean (born John Lenwood McLean) grew up in Harlem. He came from a musical family. His father, John Sr., played guitar with Tiny Bradshaw. His mother presented him with his first saxophone. McLean played in a band that included Sonny Rollins and Andy Kirk, Jr. on saxophones and Kenny Drew on piano. He studied with Bud Powell, who became his mentor. McLean played with Paul Bley’s quartet and George Wallington’s quintet, as well as Charles Mingus’s quintet, and hewas also a member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers before forming his own quintet. Charlie Parker’s influence can be heard in his recordings – "4,5, and 6," and "Swing, Swang, Swingin.’" In the late 1950s and 60s, musicians like Sun Ra, Cecil Taylor and Ornette Coleman made their mark on the jazz world, and they had a major influence on McLean. Jackie McLean has one of the most distinctive voices in jazz and remains active as a performer, teacher and recording artist. He was a recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts "American Jazz Masters" Fellowship Program for 2001.
New School University’s Jazz and Contemporary Music Program trains students for the artistic, technical and professional demands of employment and performance in the music world. The Program grants a B.F.A. degree in Jazz Performance and in Composition/Arranging. Students in the program study with an internationally renowned artist faculty. The program encourages and nurtures each student’s unique talents, to help cultivate the future generation of jazz leaders. Founded in 1986, New School University’s Jazz Program has produced some of today’s newest jazz talents, including Brad Mehldau, Larry Goldings, Roy Hargrove, Peter Bernstein, and Susie Ibarra.
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